Her Side Funnies

So, some people wonder how Ken and I have stayed married so happily for so long.  It’s easy.  Whenever we come across a problem we do not agree on, we stop and move to something else that we do agree on.  Then, we re-visit the problem later.  That’s how a bedroom on the ground floor ended up not having door handles for 10, yes 10, years.  That’s also how our second floor balcony was left rail-less for the same period of time.

It is with relief that I can now say, “Welcome to our patio,” without adding, “Please do not fall off of it.”

Unfortunately, on the day I took the photo, I had removed the wreath which ordinarily graces the gap beneath the arched window at the peak of the roof line.  Still, it shows the winning railing choice after a decade long battle over designs.  We went through fancy ideas, ornate ideas, wooden ideas, plexiglass ideas, curved-and-extended ideas, and with each idea, one or the other of us got cold feet.  I even suggested cantilevering the railing out over the sidewalk below it and attaching a jousting horse affair which could be ridden down the hill via cable lines landing somewhere near the pond.  Ken assured me that such a project would cause accidents, possibly death, and that he wanted no part of it.  I even had access to used heavy-duty ski lift cable’s from an ex-tenant of ours who worked for a lift company.

Considering the slope down our front hill is extreme, and the speeds one would have been reaching while perched atop a makeshift metal horse, armed with a jousting pole, would have probably reached 40 mph, it would have tipped the scales into an insurance nightmare.  Perhaps my suggesting it helped propel Ken to decide in favor of this more modest balcony.  Negotiation is really an art form if you work it right.  Ken gives in easily.  I did not even have to mention the flame accessory pack I could have added.  I guess I will save that for some other project we have not finished yet.

The balcony railing is made of powder-coated metal.  The end product should not need painting for our lifetime.  Maybe not for three or four more.  Our many thanks to Swede Carlson who welded the metal railing together and to C & R Custom Coatings in Delta, Colorado for doing the powder coating.  Swede even custom designed some metal flower box hangers that have worked very well over the summer.

(See Slipforming, part 17 – Turret syndrome for the next installment.)

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